Multi-institution hospital-based cancer incidence data for Nepal: an initial report

While comprehensive cancer registration data are available for some locations in India and Pakistan, the situation regarding other countries in South Asia is less clear. Only one publication with cancer incidence data is available in the literature for Nepal, for one hospital in the Western provinces. The present study was conducted to assess burden across a greater proportion of country with data from 7 major hospitals where cancer is diagnosed and treated. Data from each were transferred to the BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital in Bharatput, the National Cancer Center of Nepal, for compilation. Overall the most common site in males was the lung, followed by the oral cavity and stomach, while the first three in females were cervix uteri, breast and lung. Shifts in the the main cancers were noted with different ages, with leukemias and lymphomas in young individuals replaced by lung, oral and stomach in middle age and lung, stomach and larynx in the oldest category of males. In females the shift was to breast in young women, then cervix in middle age followed by lung in the very aged. There was also variation between hospitals, but this appeared largely due to the differences in the therapeutic modalities available in different institutions.